What AliExpress Is and How It Works in 2025: From Click to Delivery — What’s Changed

10-15-2025

Table of Contents

What AliExpress is

AliExpress is Alibaba Group’s international marketplace (launched in 2010) where thousands of independent sellers list goods directly to buyers worldwide. In the EU, the platform is classified as a “Very Large Online Platform” (VLOP) under the DSA, with an audience exceeding 100 million users (≈104.3M MAU). This status brings stricter obligations for risk management, content moderation, ad transparency, and researcher access. Let’s now take a closer look at what AliExpress is.

Where is AliExpress located?

AliExpress is an online marketplace owned by Alibaba Group, whose global headquarters are in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. As a digital platform, AliExpress doesn’t have a single retail location for shoppers; instead it operates worldwide with regional offices and a logistics network run largely through Cainiao (overseas warehouses and hubs across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and the Americas). In short: corporate home in China, operations and fulfillment spread globally.

Roles in the Ecosystem

Buyer places an order and pays on-platform; funds are held in escrow until delivery is confirmed, reducing the risk of non-delivery or misdelivery.
Seller lists products and handles quality and fulfillment (directly or via warehouses/partners).
Platform (AliExpress) provides storefront, traffic, payments, buyer protection, promos/ads, and dispute/returns handling; it also integrates logistics via Cainiao.
Cainiao is the global logistics backbone with cross-border hubs and last-mile partners. In fiscal 2024 it handled 5M+ international shipments per day on average.

Order Journey: A Quick “Flow”

Search & Recommendation. Ranking considers price, rating, conversion, and delivery speed (especially in the AliExpress Choice channel).
Payment & Escrow. Payment is withheld until delivery is confirmed; if issues arise, the buyer can open a dispute.
Fulfillment & Logistics.
- Classic cross-border: seller → China/international Cainiao hub → local last-mile.
- Overseas warehouses: inventory is stored closer to buyers for faster delivery.
- AliExpress Choice: a premium lane with tighter SLAs and simplified returns; the program benchmarks “Global 10-day” and “Global 5-day” delivery.
Delivery & Completion. After receipt is confirmed, escrow releases funds to the seller. Otherwise, the dispute/returns flow applies.

Delivery & Speed (2024–2025)

“5-day delivery” operates in several European markets (e.g., UK, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, etc.) via Cainiao/Choice.
Expansion in 2025. In 2025, Cainiao announced the expansion of “Global 5-Day Delivery” to six additional markets (Vietnam, Singapore, the Philippines, Hungary, Austria, and Qatar), with the upgrade slated for completion by the end of 2025. This is part of the company’s strategy to accelerate cross-border delivery for platforms including AliExpress.
In FY2024 Cainiao averaged >5M international parcels per day; “Global 10-day” and “Global 5-day” are positioned as speed benchmarks.

Buyer Protection & Returns

Escrow / Protected Payment. Funds are held until the buyer confirms receipt—core to cross-border trust on AliExpress.
Disputes & Returns. Buyers can open disputes for non-delivery, mismatch with description, or defects. Free Return applies only to eligible items and markets; a typical rule of thumb is 15 days from delivery to request a return (look for the “Free Return” badge on the product page). Exact conditions/exclusions vary by category and country.

How AliExpress Makes Money

Seller commissions (vary by category/channel).
Paid promotion tools and coupon mechanics.
Cainiao logistics services (pickup, consolidation, cross-border linehaul, last mile, storage). Scale is evidenced by >5M cross-border parcels/day.
Premium lanes (e.g., Choice) with stricter delivery/quality SLAs that generally lift conversion.

EU Regulation via the DSA (What’s New in 2024–2025)

Formal proceedings (March 2024). The European Commission opened a DSA case into AliExpress (illegal/unsafe goods prevention, ad transparency, researcher access, etc.).
Preliminary findings & “systemic failures” (June 2025). The Commission said AliExpress had systemic shortcomings in proactive moderation; non-compliance can attract fines up to 6% of global turnover. In parallel, certain commitments voluntarily offered by AliExpress were made binding under the DSA.

Corporate Changes Around Cainiao (2024)

IPO cancelled; buyback offer. In March 2024, Alibaba shelved Cainiao’s Hong Kong IPO and offered to buy remaining minority stakes (up to $3.75B), underscoring the strategic importance of logistics.

Why Prices Stay Low — and How the Platform Scales

Shorter supply chain (manufacturer/wholesaler → buyer), plus massive volumes and optimized logistics reduce unit costs.
Cainiao infrastructure (hubs, air capacity, consolidation, last mile) + programmatic SLAs (5/10-day) drive predictable delivery and fewer cancellations/returns.
Trust mechanisms (escrow, disputes, Free Return) lower buyer risk in cross-border shopping.

Now you know what AliExpress is.

10-15-2025

Maria Kolman

Shopping expert

Digital marketer and author with 10 years of experience. A regular AliExpress shopper since 2015, I have made over 350 orders and won 23 disputes with sellers. I study the nuances of buying and selling on the Chinese marketplace, share the information and latest news I gather. I help AliExpress shoppers find great deals and win disputes. I answer questions in the comments.